Rated Ranking: World’s Most Reputable Companies 2014

World’s Most Reputable Companies 2014

Summary

The study was conducted in January and February 2014, surveying 60,000 consumers in 15 countries around the world, including US, UK, Germany, France, India, China, Russia, and Brazil. If the person was familiar with the company, they were asked four basic statements: “I trust X company”, “I admire and respect X company”, “I have a good feeling about this company,” and “X company has an overall good reputation”. The respondents rated each statement on a scale of one to seven. Next they were asked to rate a series of statements like, “Company X makes or sells innovative products or innovates in the way it does business.” Each company was assigned points on a scale of 100. To be considered for the international list, a company must be well known in the 15 countries surveyed and it must have revenues of more than $6 billion in the US or $1 billion globally.

Due to the fact that the survey was answered by consumers only – and not any other important stakeholder group, e.g. analysts, executives, NGOs, employees – the top companies listed are predominantly publicly well-known consumer brands like Walt Disney, Google, BMW and Rolex. Hence, the majority of B2B corporations, many of which are highly respected among non-consumer stakeholder groups, are not covered in the Top 100 list. A good example for this explicit consumer focus of the list is “Rolls-Royce Aerospace” – a reputational leader among B2B stakeholders in its industry – made it into the Top 20 of the list. Obviously, respondents didn’t realize that the producer of turbines was meant – and not the iconic car brand “Rolls-Royce” (that nowadays belongs to BMW). Consequently, the study should be named “The World’s Most Reputable Consumer Brands” rather than “The World’s 100 Most Reputable Companies”.

Summarizing, “World’s Most Reputable Companies” is only a partially useful ranking with considerable flaws. As the ranking has a long history comparisons and developments over time are possible. The article, including the Top 100 list, is accessible on the Forbes website.

Do the ranking results provide overall orientation where companies stand?

limited orientation only (1 point)

fair orientation provided (3 points)

very good orientation (5 points)

Comment: The study is based on the responses of consumers only; the opinion of other important stakeholder groups for global corporations are not reflected.

Is the Ranking published in the same format on a regular basis, e.g. annually, which allows to track developments and comparisons over time?

ranking is published for the first time (1 point)

ranking is published for the second time in the same format (3 points)

ranking is published for more than 3 times on a regular basis in the same format (5 points)

Do the ranking results provide added value and further insights on how companies are evaluated in in their industry, e.g. detailed ratings in various sub-dimensions of the overall result?

limited added value only (1 point)

fair amount of added value (3 points)

high amount of added value (5 points)

Comment: Detailed ratings in various subdimensions of the overall result are not published.

Aggregated points: 7 (of max. 15)

Is the ranking based on a representative survey among key stakeholders or on a jury only?

Ranking is based on a jury’s opinion only. (1 point)

Ranking is based on a small survey or only on a limited group of stakeholders. (3 points)

Ranking is based on a robust and representative survey. (5 points)

Comment: The ranking reflects the perception of 60,000 consumers in 15 countries around the world, including US, UK, Germany, France, India, China, Russia, and Brazil. Due to the focus on consumers only the ranking is de facto a league table of prestigeous consumer brands – excluding the majority of highly respected B2B companies.

Is the ranking methodology easy to understand and reasonable – even for non-statisticians?

Methodology not easy to understand and not reasonable. (1 point)

Methodology fairly good to understand and reasonable. (3 points)

Methodology very easy to understand and reasonable. (5 points)

Is the ranking methodology easy to access and transparent?

Methodology not easy to find and not sufficiently transparent. (1 point)

Methodology fairly good to find and of medium transparency. (3 points)

About Markus Renner, PhD

Markus Renner is Co-Owner and Managing Partner of Branding-Institute AG in Basel since 2008, consulting multinational corporations and organizations as strategic advisor and innovator in the fields of strategic communications, brand and reputation management.